Star Wars novelist react aggressively to critics on his inclusion of gay characters

Author of the new Star Wars aftermath, Chuck Wendig has responded to fans who objected to his inclusion of a gay character that “You’re not the good guys ... You’re the shitty, oppressive, totalitarian Empire.”

He added: “If you can imagine a world where Luke Skywalker would be irritated that there were gay people around him, you completely missed the point of Star Wars”.

Published last week, Star Wars: Aftermath has already risen to number four on the New York Times bestseller list and been hailed by SciFiNow as “a journey that is both breathtaking yet restrained, throwing you headlong into a story that reaches its crescendo at around the half-way point and maintains this pace throughout”.

But the novel has found itself swamped in angry reviews on Amazon, with 41% of its 500-odd write-ups giving it just one star.

Set after the destruction of the second Death Star, with the Emperor and Darth Vader rumoured to be dead, Aftermath follows the adventures of former rebel fighter Norra Wexley, as the enemy gathers on the remote planet of Akiva. Wendig also introduces a new character, Sinjir Rath Velus, who is gay.

On his blog, Terrible Minds, Wendig hit back at readers who accused the author on Amazon of blatantly pushing a gay agenda and saying his book was no longer child friendly.

He said: “If you’re upset because I put gay characters and a gay protagonist in the book, I got nothing for you,” Wendig wrote.

He later told a reader who attacked his confrontational approach to his critics that he would not engage in a conversation on the issue. “Because on this, I am not interested in conversation, if your problem with the book is only the inclusion of gay characters, then no conversation is possible. Because that’s homophobia, that’s bigotry, and there’s nothing to be done or said. Someone wants to talk to me about the writing style or whatever, sure, I can have that discussion. On this, no.”