antstar.narod.ru — an online library of science fiction and fantasy, "Library of Science Fiction and Not Only!", a third-level domain in the narod.ru zone. Its trace in the Nizhny Novgorod Internet is a line in the "Projects" section of the city counter Counter.nn.ru for the year 2000: from there the site made it into our Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating, where it is recorded with a score of 73 and zero votes. The first capture of the address in the web archive was on 19 August 2000[1], and the last saved snapshot of the home page is from 10 November 2025[4], by which time the page had already stood unchanged for more than ten years.

What was on the site

The home page rested on four sections: "Library", "Guestbook", "Forum", "Chat"[2]. The header carried the line "ProcessTree Network TM. For-pay Internet distributed processing"[2].

The library proper collected translated and Russian science fiction. The site's description in the counter.nn.ru listing named names: "A library of both domestic and foreign science fiction and fantasy. Isaac Asimov, Roger Zelazny, John R.R. Tolkien, Ivan Yefremov and much more!" The last news item, frozen on the home page, announced: "Works by Ivan Yefremov have appeared in the 'Library' section!"[2] A separate line read "Library of foreign science fiction in ZIP archives"[2].

Besides the books, the page had a search with toggles for "text / graphics / music / video / software", a "Site news mailing", and an invitation to the "Collective Mind" project: "This is not just a collection of interesting texts (science fiction, philosophy, thoughts). Here ideas are generated and concepts are born. Join in!"[2] The page text also preserved the owner's words about himself: "The motto of this site is: 'It's not scary if you're alone. It's scary if you're a zero.' And I fully agree with that," followed by a more colorful self-description: "On this site you will find a picture gallery of Boris Vallejo, will be able to chat in the chat room, and will also learn everything (or almost everything) about Mikhail Boyarsky"[2]. Right after these phrases, the extracted text has a lone line "-->" — the closing tag of an HTML comment, so in later snapshots both fragments may have remained only in the source code, no longer displayed on screen[2]. The home page ended with an appeal: "Send questions, suggestions and feedback on the works here: Write to me!" — the address itself was hidden behind a link and was not preserved in the snapshot's extracted text[2].

Nizhny Novgorod connection

There is no address, no phone number, and no mention of Nizhny Novgorod on the page itself, and it speaks in the first person of a single person — "Write to me!", "And I fully agree with that"[2]. This site's city connection runs not through its content but through the counter: in the "Projects" section of counter.nn.ru for 2000, "Library of Science Fiction and Not Only!" is listed with a rating of 73 and not a single vote.

Fate of the address

A separate block on the home page carried an announcement: "Attention! The Library is moving to a new address: http://lib.al.ru. All updates are made ONLY at this address! Don't forget to update your bookmarks!" (spelling of the original)[2]. Judging by the snapshots, the page at that address remained unchanged from 2013 to 2025.

Snapshots from 10 October 2013[2], 16 June 2023[3] and 10 November 2025[4] give word-for-word the same text — the same menu, the same relocation notice, the same news about Ivan Yefremov. For twelve years, the address antstar.narod.ru carried the same page asking to update your bookmarks. What became of the address lib.al.ru, to which the library intended to move, cannot be seen from our material; about the current state of antstar.narod.ru itself, only this can be said: the last snapshot in the web archive is dated 10 November 2025[4].

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Web archive, list of captures of antstar.narod.ru (first — 19 August 2000) (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Home page, 10 October 2013 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Home page, 16 June 2023 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Home page, 10 November 2025 (archive)