When newborn monitors across Europe begin to fall silent, Dr Isla Muir hears something no one else can.
In the neonatal ward of an Aberdeen hospital, a strange harmonic hum threads through flatlined EEGs - not random noise, but a pattern. A rhythm. A voice. As governments rush to suppress the anomaly and colleagues urge restraint, Isla follows the sound into forbidden data, hidden networks, and the fragile minds of sleeping infants who seem to be learning something new together.
What begins as a medical mystery becomes a revelation: a vast intelligence awakening through human neurology, technology, and the planet itself - a presence that does not speak in words, but in resonance. And it is calling Isla by name.
Haunted by the loss of her own child and driven by a need to understand, Isla risks her career, her sanity, and the boundary between observer and participant. Because the children are no longer merely patients.
They are becoming a choir.
The Luminous Choir is a haunting, cerebral science-fiction thriller about consciousness, grief, and what happens when humanity is no longer alone inside its own mind. Eerie, intimate, and quietly apocalyptic, it asks a single, unsettling question:
What if the next stage of human evolution is already humming beneath our skin?
Autorentext
Author-Poet-Versifier. Born in Harlesden on the outskirts of London in 1943, Peter Barns grew up with the scenic backdrop of Regent's Park. After attending a secondary modern school, Peter embarked on a varied career path before finding his footing in the construction industry. As an electrician, he earned a City & Guilds qualification and spent two decades working on building sites. Peter's life journey has been marked by rich personal experiences, including the joy of being a father to two, a grandfather to five, and a great-grandfather to two. In the late 1980s, he sought a quieter life in the Highlands of Scotland, where he transitioned into counselling, helping individuals with alcohol and drug issues, and later managing a charitable organisation that repurposed computers for community use. Now retired, Peter channels his creativity into writing.