REVIEWS

The Dark Side of the Soul is an imaginative work, thrilling from the beginning and will appeal to anyone with an interest in fantasy fiction and also to those who wish to know more of philosophy and metaphysics. 

This memorable and unusual book is intelligent and a pleasure to read. 

Raphael diTraglia

Beautifully constructed, Prince Selim’s debut novel pulls the reader through a range of human experience, interweaving the characters’ lives, their happiness and grief with the forces of the cosmos, creating a world of extraordinary power and sensitivity. 

Refreshingly brilliant. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Dark Side of the Soul to anyone.

Chris Chamberlain, Member of the Philological Society

Prince Selim's fantastical and metaphorical novel is explicitly about longing - the yearning for one's other, the other that makes one complete. In his story, two souls fall in love before an angel draws them apart and jolts them from one incarnation to the next. They experience the full spectrum of human emotions as they search for their other. Here, the beginning of the separation and thus, the beginning of the longing.

Linda Wastila, author of Brighter than Bright

HIH Prince Selim has used his imagination and sense of spirituality to write a novel that is unique and crosses conventional boundaries. This novel traces the journey across time and geography of two souls that keep meeting. Prince Selim's novel is a page turner designed to keep you wondering what will happen next. If you enjoy intelligent, witty and challenging novels, then you should buy and read this novel immediately.

John Scanlon, English Literature Professor, Cyprus University

The writing in this book is brilliant. Selim tells a poignant tale in a poetic style. As a reader you genuinely feel the loneliness of the two protagonists during their tragic, eons long, separation. This is a highly imaginative book and a great pleasure to read.

Rick DeCosta, The Absent Willow

The Dark Side of the Soul is much more than the poetic quest of a soul for its mate. It is also the interconnection of three lyrical and tragic love stories, a scientific and spiritual saga in which strong minds meet head-on, and a very down to earth tale of grief, anguish, and redemption. In addition, all along, underlying the main characters' rather 'mundane' lives, the forces of Good and Evil are perpetually at war, struggling over the souls, turn by turn leading them and manipulating them, revealing provocative vistas of Heaven and Hell.

Athena Vassib, Buckinghamshire, England

A flight of the imagination

H.I.H. Prince Selim Djem has created an extraordinary mosaic of celestial/human/sub-human lives through fate, accident and freakish cosmic occurrences. The characters part, crisscross and overlap through the millennia. In all its artificial constructive way it feels like real life. He also reveals, in the midst of this labyrinth, episodes from his personal life with such pure emotion that the book develops into a fascinating and compelling page-turner.

Negla Chawky, Personal Assistant to the Chief of Protocol, United Nations - New York

A look into the mind of Ottoman royalty as he shares an intellectual yet seductive tale of love and longing! As a part of the Ottoman Dynasty he has an amazing first hand grasp of the intrigue of the ages. This novel will keep you spellbound as you navigate through the twists and turns of good and evil, love and longing. As I read Prince Selim's novel, I felt transported in a more pure, innocent time.

Donna Harrison