Astrosaurs
Astrosaurs is a series of children's science fiction books written by Steve Cole. The main characters are space-going dinosaurs. So far there are 10 books in the series. The series are published by Random House.
Free trading cards come with each Astrosaur book. However, the World Book Day title "The Teeth of the T. Rex" does not include cards.
Astrosaurs began on the 3rd of February 2005. The first 2 books were released on that day. There are 144 pages inside every Astrosaur book except "The Teeth of the T. Rex" which has 80 pages.
List of books
- Riddle of the Raptors, published - 1st February 2005
- The Hatching Horror, published - 1st February 2005
- The Seas of Doom, published - 5th May 2005
- The Mind-Swap Menace, published - 4th August 2005
- The Skies of fear, published - 5th January 2006
- The Space Ghosts, published - 2nd March 2006
- The Day of the Dino Droids, published - 1st June 2006
- The Terror Bird Trap, published - 3rd August 2006
- Teeth of the T-Rex, published - 1st March 2007 (This book is a special edition book it has no free collector cards and 80 pages)
- The Planet of Peril, published - 5th April 2007
- The Star Pirates, published - 7th June 2007
- The Claws of Christmas, to be published - 4th October 2007
- The Sun Snatchers, to be published - 3rd February 2008
It is likely that more books will be published next year in 2008.
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 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 neutrel area of space known as the "Vegmeat zone". The two factions broadly stay at peace by avoiding each other, but invariably trouble flares up between the two from time to time (almost invariably the fault of the carnivores).
The vegetarian sector formed the Dinosaur Space Service, or DSS, who are responsible for training elite Astrosaurs. The Astrosaurs mission is to explore space, go on exciting missions, protect the innocent, and fight evil (usually, but not always, carnivores) wherever they find it.
Crew
| Picture | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Captain Teggs Horatio Stegosaur | Captain Teggs Horatio Stegosaur, a stegosaurus from the planet Steggos, is an elite Astrosaur in the Dinosaur Space Service (DSS) and the captain of the DSS Sauropod. Headstrong and brave, Captain Teggs' love of adventure is matched only by his love of food. Teggs battle armour includes a special electric shock in the spike in his tail, which can be used to stun his enemies in a fight. | |
| Arx Longhorn Orano | Arx Longhorn Orano, a triceratops from the planet Tri Major, is the first officer on the DSS Sauropod. He is the oldest member of the crew, at 52, and by far the brainiest. When the crew run into a sticky situation, Arx is usually the crew member who figures out the solution to the problem. | |
| Iggadoo Tooth ("Iggy") |
Iggadoo Tooth (or "Iggy"), an iguanodon from the planet Iguanos, is the chief engineer on the DSS Sauropod. As well as being a brilliant mechanic, Iggy has thumb spikes and stun claws on his battle armour making him a doughty fighter. | |
| Gipsy Saurine | Gipsy Saurine, a hadrosaur from the planet Corythos, is the communications officer on board the DSS Sauropod. She is the only female member of the crew, and at 21 is also the youngest (excluding Sprite). She speaks almost every dinosaur language, which is immeasurably helpful on the crew's missions. | |
| Sprrti-aaaat**o ("Sprite") |
Sprrti-aaaat**o (universally referred to as "Sprite"), is a dimorphodon from the planet Dimorphia. He is the leader of the dimorphodon flight crew. Up until The Skies of Fear, Sprite is a peripheral figure, rarely referred to in the background. Afterwards he plays an increasing role in the books, and in The Star Pirates he accompanies the primary crew on a mission and is actually referred en passant as being an Astrosaur himself.[1] Sprite is 16. In earlier books only Gipsy could communicate with him, but in The Star Pirates he has a conversation with Teggs where Teggs speak in whistles and Sprite speaks in cheeps and whistles that Teggs can understand.[2] |
Astrosaurs Academy
A new series of Astrosaurs will be coming in May 2008. This Series focuses on Teggs Stegosaur in Astrosaurs Academy, So it will be based on before Teggs becomes an Astrosaur. Gipsy, Arx and Iggy will not appear in the series. In Astrosaurs Academy, Teggs has two best friends, Blink and Dutch. Astrosaurs Academy: T rex terror camp and Astrosaurs Academy: Contest Carnage, Will be published May 1st 2008. More books will likely follow.
Influences
Although Steve Cole is not reported as having said so expressly, the series appears to have been influenced to a significant degree by the original Star Trek franchise. The characters are relatively easy to transpose: Captain Teggs is similar to Captain James T. Kirk; Arx is the highly intelligent second in command, similar to Spock; Iggy the engineer is (more loosely) similar to Scotty; and Gipsy and Uhura are both token females and communications officers. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a children's book, there is no direct equivalent of Bones McCoy or the anonymous red-shirted crew member, although arguably Sprite could be said to fill the latter role, but with the twist that he doesn't get killed in every episode.
The plot synopsis usually follows a pattern not dissimilar to the classic Star Trek episode: Captain Teggs will usually find himself, together with one other crew member, separated from the ship and the rest of his crew, but eventually manages to resolve the task ahead once he is reunited with the crew who have, during his absence, worked out what is happening and why in the relevant episode.
Cows In Action
This year on 3rd May 2007, Steve Cole started Cows In Action, a new series. Two Books were published to date on 3rd May 2007 These books were "The MOO-MYS CURSE" and "The TER-MOO-NATORS". The third book is to be published on the 6th September 2007, and the following book will be published on the 3rd January 2008. It is anticipated there will be other books. The series is about three Cows who are part of the C.I.A (Cows In Action) and they have to travel to different times in their "time shed" to stop the F.B.I (Fed up Bull Institute) from changing history and the future.
List of Cows In Action Books
- Cows In Action: The Ter-moo-nators Published May 3rd 2007
- Cows In Action: The Moo-mys Curse Published May 3rd 2007
- Cows In Action: The Roman Moo-stery Published September 6th 2007
- Cows In Action: The Wild West Moo-nster to be Published January 4th 2008
- Cows In Action: World War Moo to be Published June 5th 2008