Astrosaurs is a series of children’s science fiction/horror-tinged novels written by Steve Cole, which have been released since 2005. The main characters are space-going dinosaurs named Teggs Stegosaur (a Stegosaurus), Gipsy Saurine (a Corythosaurus), Arx Orano (a Triceratops) and Iggy Tooth (an Iguanodon).
The series are published by Random House and is a huge hit with children nationwide. Amanda Craig, writing in The Times, described it as “the kind of inspired, hysterically silly fantasy that boys adore”.
The first two Astrosaurs books were released on 1 February 2005, with over twenty books following. Free trading cards 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 first five Astrosaurs books have now been released in Audiobook format on CD in the UK. 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. Astrosaurs Academy is a prequel series to Astrosaurs that focuses on Teggs’s youthful adventures at school on Astro Prime, the setting for all of the Astrosaurs Academy books. Like Astrosaurs, the books all include collector’s cards inside
Woody Fox is the illustrator on every Astrosaurs book and 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 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.
General Rosso, a ‘crusty old barosaurus‘, employs Teggs to work for the DSS (Dinosaur Space Service) in the first book and introduces him to his crew, which includes over fifty people and fifty dimorphodon, most notably Arx Orano, Iggy Tooth and Gipsy Saurine, along with fifty dimorphodon. In Earth Attack, which is notable for being an extra-long edition, General Loki 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…
| Title | Published |
|---|---|
| Riddle of the Raptors | 1 February 2005 |
| The Hatching Horror | 1 February 2005 |
| The Seas of Doom | 5 May 2005 |
| The Mind-Swap Menace | 4 August 2005 |
| The Skies of Fear | 5 January 2006 |
| The Space Ghosts | 2 March 2006 |
| The Day of the Dino Droids | 1 June 2006 |
| The Terror Bird Trap | 3 August 2006 |
| Teeth of the T-Rex | 1 March 2007 |
| The Planet of Peril | 5 April 2007 |
| The Star Pirates | 7 June 2007 |
| The Claws of Christmas | 4 October 2007 |
| The Sun Snatchers | 7 February 2008 |
| Revenge of the FANG | 7 August 2008 |
| The Carnivore Curse | 1 January 2009 |
| The Dreams of Dread | 7 May 2009 |
| The Robot Raiders | 4 February 2010 |
| The Twist of Time | 29 April 2010 |
| The Sabre-Tooth Secret | 3 February 2011 |
| The Forest of Evil | 4 August 2011 |
| Earth Attack! | 6 October 2011 |
| The T.Rex Invasion | 26 April 2012 |
| The Castle of Frankensaur | 30 August 2012 |
| The Dinosaur Moo-tants | Autumn 2013, featuring the Cows in Action |
Wikipedia | Image credits: Random House | Steve Cole
