''Astrosaurs'' is a series of children's science fiction novels written by Steve Cole, 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 period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s named Teggs Stegosaur (a '' Stegosaurus''), Gipsy Saurine (a ''

Hadrosaur Hadrosaurids (), 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 family, which includ ...

''), Arx Orano (a ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...

'') and Iggy Tooth (an '' Iguanodon''). The series are published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. 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 ...

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 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 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 ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

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'' ( ) was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar ''Diplodocus''. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Upper Jurassic Period of Utah and South Da ...

, 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'' was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from the early Jurassic Period. It was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1859. ''Dimorphodon'' means "two-form tooth", derived from the Greek (') meaning "two", (') meaning "shape" an ...

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

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaur 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 the pa ...

'' 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