Clarkesworld Issue 74, November 2012
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tobler_11_12/
"(To See the Other) Whole Against the Sky" by E. Catherine Tobler

I want to say two things before I even start this review. First, thank you to Robert Collyer for recommending "(To See the Other) Whole Against the Sky." Second, read this story. It's beautiful.

"(To See the Other) Whole Against the Sky" is a quiet story of exploration. The central idea is that loners are hired to watch cargo ship travelling immense distances. There are no space battles, no grand adventures, and no new planets or aliens introduced.

So, you might ask, what is it exploring? The answer is the human condition, mind, and heart. It follows one character's journey into deep space but more compelling is the internal monologue of the protagonist.

Every ship caretaker is assigned a partner on another ship heading in an opposite direction. They check each other's numbers and generally keep on another company. What Tobler does with this is a brilliant parallel because they two in the story develop a deeper relationship over time just as they are being pulled further and further apart. It's very sad, but also moving.

It is also complicated by a growing feeling of unreliability in the narrator such that by the end of the story I was unsure if there ever had been another person or if he was simply a figment of her deep longing to be able to connect to someone. Ironic given it is her loner nature that made her perfect for the job in the first place.

As a note, I don't believe we ever get names or genders for either party but to me the narrator was female. This is part of the effectiveness of the story. There is just enough character to make the narrator sympathetic but not enough that her details hinder the reader from putting themselves in her place. The fact is that the story taps into an inherent desire to not be alone that seems to exist in most if not every person. This is accomplished deftly through beautiful, lyrical prose and deft metaphor.

Which is not to say the story is flawless. There is a mention of aliens that to me felt like a diversion. Yes, it sets up a nice parallel of the human race as a whole seeking not to be alone in the universe and the protagonist's desire to not be alone in her own heart. However, since the micro-struggle is so strong the verbiage and space used to set up the concept actually saps more energy and attention from the narrative than it pays back.

Also, as I alluded to earlier, if you are a reader that likes to know exactly what happened this is not the story for you. The reality of the narrative is fluid, more felt than understood. In this regard it is very similar to stories done by authors like Kelly Link.

Still, for me, I felt this was amazingly successful for tapping into an emotional response as much as telling a tale. Highly recommended.