Christmas 2016, fans of Star Wars were left in shock coming out of mobile theatres with the presentation of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It was the Star Wars older fans had grown up with. Although it was new, it also felt so familiar to us all. One of the writers of the incredible story was Gary Whitta. His understanding of the characters, of the original movies and of just that inexplainable ‘Star Wars’ feel. Since then, Whitta has gone on to write several episodes of Star Wars: Rebels and the comic adaptation of The Last Jedi, which was a lesson in how film comic adaptations still have a place in the modern age.
Today, Whitta’s latest novel, titled Gundog, goes on sale:
In the near future, Earth has been conquered by a race of brutal alien machines known as the Mek, and an entire generation has grown up under their oppressive rule.
When Dakota Bregman, a rebellious young woman imprisoned in a Mek labor camp stumbles across a mysterious map that may hold the secret to humanity’s liberation, she escapes and embarks on a dangerous odyssey across an alien-occupied America that leads her to an amazing discovery — a long-lost prototype war machine known as a Gundog. Created by the last defenders of Earth, it has lain dormant for decades, hidden away. Waiting for someone to wake it up.
Now Dakota must confront a legacy she never knew she had, and embrace the warrior she was meant to be, facing down impossible odds and an overwhelmingly superior enemy in the hope of sparking a new flame of human resistance…
Just from that description, the book sounds interesting, but when combined with the fact it’s written by one of Star Wars’ most respected writers, I thought it was time to have a catch up with Mr. Whitta and find out a bit more about the book…
Where did the idea for Gundog come from?
It’s something I’ve been playing around with in different forms since 2009. I’ve always loved the Japanese mecha genre — basically big futuristic bipedal war machines doing awesome stuff — and have long wondered why there’s never been a similar scene in Western popular culture, outside of the few rare examples like Robot Jox and Pacific Rim. So, Gundog was kind of intended as my tribute to the genre’s Japanese roots, while putting a very American spin on it — the whole thing takes place in Wyoming and South Dakota.
When we last spoke to you in 2018, you mentioned you were halfway through writing a sci-fi novel, was this Gundog? Did you find lockdown helped or impeded the writing of the novel?
Yeah, like I said it’s had a long gestation. I originally toyed with the idea of doing it as a feature film screenplay but it’s increasingly difficult to get big original sci-fi projects made in Hollywood unless you’re one of a select handful of A-list names. But I’ve had success in recent years with taken ideas that might have been very difficult to realize as screen projects in other mediums like novels and comic books, so around 2018 I started writing Gundog as a novel. My idea was to self-publish the book which also meant producing the audiobook adaptation myself. I got very fortunate in that I was able to convince some actor friends who weren’t working during the pandemic to record nine hours of original audio and I published that last year as a free episodic podcast that went on to become really successful. Based on that success a publisher became interested in the book and so about a year after the podcast debuted the novel it’s based on is now coming out, which is maybe a backwards way to do things but has been a lot of fun.
Dakota, at least on the surface, seems in some ways very similar to Jyn Erso. Are they similar? What makes them different?
Yeah, I think there are a lot of parallels. They are both rebels who grew up without a family in a harsh and violent world and had to become a fighter to survive. Both don’t respond well to authority. And while Jyn gets to reconnect with her long-lost father in Rogue One, Dakota is reunited with her long-lost mother in Gundog. In fact, now I think about it there are more similarities between the two than I realized when I was writing, haha!
When I heard the name of the aliens, Mek, my mind instantly went to the Mekon from Dan Dare. What are your aliens like and where did the name Mek come from?
Humans call them the Mek because they’re a mechanized species, a machine race of sentient war machines. Think Skynet, but the Terminators came from another planet to invade Earth.
Gundog is your second novel to date, what makes this different to your first book Abomination?
Abomination was very much hard fantasy, whereas this is full-on sci-fi. But there’s a theme of family that runs through both, along with the idea of standing up to bullies, which has long been a thematic feature of my work, including my contributions to Star Wars.
You’ve written a wide variety of stories for movies, television, comic books, etc… What are some of the challenges and benefits to writing a novel as opposed to another format?
I’ve really enjoyed writing novels as it allows me to play with prose in a way that just isn’t appropriate or necessary in screenplays. And I get to delve more into character and do fun little digressions and interior monologues without having to be so concerned with pacing. It’s been very liberating for me.
What influences do you think affected your writing of Gundog?
I have two daughters now and it’s definitely impacted every aspect of my writing, there are a lot more parental and familial themes that underpin my storytelling. And I continue to scratch my popcorn itch — with Abomination on some level I just wanted to tell a really gnarly and horrific monster story, and with Gundog I just wanted to play with giant robots.
Would Gundog appeal to Star Wars fans?
Yeah, I think so because it’s driven by a lot of the same themes — the little guy standing up to fight against the bad guy, living in the shadow of your parents’ legacy, rising up from nothing to face your destiny… they’re definitely both cut from the same cloth of classic mythic storytelling.
Is it easier to write in a galaxy (like Star Wars) where there are already established places, species and ideologies that constrict you, or your own universe where nothing has been established but you have the freedom to do what you like with them?
I don’t think it’s easier or harder, just different. Certainly, with an original story I don’t have to worry about feeling restricted by any pre-existing canonical boundaries, but with a pre-made universe like Star Wars it’s really fun to figure out how to add to it in an interesting way — and of course to play with the real versions of the toys I had been playing with since I was eight years old.
You are, of course, very well known to Star Wars fans for your work on Rogue One. Years later, it is still regarded as one of the best Star Wars films to date, with lots of fans putting it on par with the Original Trilogy. Are you surprised how beloved it has become?
I didn’t have any expectations for it when we were working on it, other than just desperately hoping that we didn’t screw it up. But yeah, it seems like it has emerged from the Disney era as the favorite among fans by a pretty wide margin, and that’s been incredibly gratifying to see. I never get tired of hearing from people who like it 🙂
Cassian Andor has his own series. Did you ever think there would be a spin off to Rogue One and if so, did you think it would be Cassian?
I honestly never thought about it. I’m just glad the movie was well-liked enough to justify more storytelling in that particular corner of the Star Wars universe. My favorite spin-off though is still the LEGO set of Vader’s fortress on Mustafar.
After Rogue One, you wrote some episodes of Rebels, most notably ‘The Antilles Extraction’. How did it feel to write the backstory for such a well loved Star Wars character?
That was such a thrill for me because Wedge has always been a favorite character of mine. When we were developing that story there was some back-and-forth about whether we should use Wedge or Biggs, but I fought really hard for it to be Wedge and I’m so glad it worked out that way.
You used to be the Editor in Chief for PC Gamer magazine. Just thinking back to those days, did you have a favourite Star Wars game?
During the time I was at PC Gamer it was TIE Fighter, no question. Since then, my favorite has been the original Knights of the Old Republic.
If Gundog was turned into a video game, what sort of game would you envision it would become and who would you want to voice the main characters?
Well Shannon Woodward and Troy Baker did such a great job with the audiobook I think it’d be wrong to have anyone else but them do it.
Are there plans for more books set within the Gundog world?
In my mind I have an idea for a trilogy of books, but I’ll wait and see how this first one does before really making a decision on that.
If you could sum up Gundog in seven words, what would you choose?
One giant robot can make a difference.
I already have my copy downloaded and I’m eager to jump in, particularly knowing that it could become a trilogy! Thank you for your time and good luck with the book release!
Thank you.
