''Astrosaurs'' is a series of

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

science fiction novels written by

Steve Cole Steve Cole (born August 17, 1970) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. He is also a professor/adviser of music business at the University of St. Thomas. Early career and education Cole was born in Chicago, Illinois and began to play musi ...

, which have been released since 2005. The main characters are space-going

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s named Teggs Stegosaur (a ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

''), Gipsy Saurine (a ''

Hadrosaur Hadrosaurids (), also hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod fami ...

''), Arx Orano (a ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

'') and Iggy Tooth (an ''

Iguanodon ''Iguanodon'' ( ; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus ''Iguanodon'', dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Taxonomy (bi ...

''). The series are published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

. The first two ''Astrosaurs'' books were released on 1 February 2005, with over twenty books following. ''The Teeth of the T. Rex'' was a special edition book written especially for World Book Day. Free

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

s come with each Astrosaur book, featuring foes, weapons, crew members, ships, aliens and many other characters and things found in the relevant book, with a set of 'bonus cards' available to order from the Steve Cole website, which are now believed to have gone out of print, and featured characters from the first eight books. The

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

title ''The Teeth of the T. Rex'' does not include cards, and is much shorter than the other books. The first five ''Astrosaurs'' books have now been released in

Audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

format on CD in the UK. The series is a huge hit with children nationwide. Beginning in late 2010, the books have been re-released with new cover artwork. Currently, books 12–15 are the only ones not to have been given the new covers. Woody Fox is the illustrator on every Astrosaurs book, who also draws the illustrations for the trading cards, with Charlie Fawkes having designed the Astrosaurs logo, consisting of the word 'ASTROSAURS' with the four main characters above it.

Synopsis

The broad plot synopsis of the ''Astrosaurs'' series is that the dinosaurs were not in fact wiped out when a large meteor hit the earth millions of years ago; they had in fact discovered space travel during the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

period and had already left earth by the time the meteor struck. The dinosaurs subsequently settled in a part of space called the Jurassic Quadrant, which is divided between the carnivores and herbivores; between the two sectors is a neutral area of space. The two factions broadly stay at peace by avoiding each other, but invariably trouble flares up between the two from time to time. Admiral Rosso, a 'crusty old ''

Barosaurus ''Barosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of giant, long-tailed, long-necked, herbivore, plant-eating Sauropoda, sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar ''Diplodocus''. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Jurassic, Up ...

, employs Teggs to work for the DSS (Dinosaur Space Service) in the first book and introduces him to his crew, which includes Arx Orano, Iggy Tooth and Gipsy Saurine, along with fifty ''

Dimorphodon ''Dimorphodon'' ( ) is a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from Europe during the early Jurassic Period (about 201-191 million years ago).Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. ...

''. In ''Earth Attack'', which is notable for being an extra-long edition, General Loki the ''

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in th ...

'' goes back in time to try and prevent the dinosaurs leaving Earth, so the whole history of Astrosaurs would never have happened. However, he is stopped.

Characters

Books in the series

Astrosaurs Academy

A spin-off series of ''Astrosaurs'' started on 1 May 2008. This series focuses on Teggs Stegosaur in Astrosaurs Academy, it is based before Teggs becomes an Astrosaur. In Astrosaurs Academy, Teggs has two best friends, Blink and Dutch. Gipsy, Arx and Iggy do not appear in this series. The series ended with Space Kidnap on 3 March 2011. ''Destination: Danger'': Published – 1 May 2008
''Contest Carnage'': Published – 1 May 2008
''Terror Underground'': Published – 4 September 2008
''Jungle Horror'': Published – 5 February 2009
''Deadly Drama'': Published – 2 July 2009
''Christmas Crisis'': Published – 1 October 2009
''Volcano Invaders'': Published – 1 April 2010
''Space Kidnap'': Published – 3 March 2011

Reception

Amanda Craig, writing in the Times, described it as "the kind of inspired, hysterically silly fantasy that boys adore".

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Astrosaurs web site

Steve Cole Audio Interview: Cows, Dinosaurs and Doctor Who
Juvenile series British children's novels Series of children's books Children's science fiction novels Children's novels about dinosaurs Novels set on fictional planets