The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle that Will Save Humanity by Andy Andrews

Andy Andrews in The Final Summit continues the story of Traveler David Ponder from The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success. Ponder has used the wisdom he gathered as a Traveler well. He has built a successful business, loved well and is loved by those who work for him. He used the seven decisions to not only put his life on track but to overcome a business failure later in life. But Ponder is depressed and alone. In this moment of sadness the Archangel Gabriel returns to Ponder calling him to the Final Summit, a gathering of all the Travelers across history. Ponder as the final and the only Traveler from this time leads the summit in which they must use their collective wisdom to provide the two word answer that would return humanity to the pathway that will allow us to be a successful civilization. If Ponder and the Travelers assigned to aid him are unable to provide the answer, humankind will be destroyed. To find the answer, the Travelers discuss and debate the attributes of mankind that need to be developed in order to return to the proper pathway.

Once again Andrews shows himself to be a master storyteller. At times The Final Summit makes one think they are reading a light science fiction book and not a self-help offering. Andrews also does a great job uncovering overlooked historical events and figures. In this case one of the five Travelers assigned to struggle over the answer with Ponder is a completely unknown World War II figure whose wartime actions really should be celebrated and studied more in history books then we currently do. The Travelers appearing in the book include old friends from The Traveler’s Gift but also new historical figures. The reader begins to speculate who is “in the room” at the final summit. A personal favorite of mine was Fred Rogers! The Travelers work through several answers to the question and discuss in depth how each would personally and collectively benefit mankind. Some of those responses do seem to parallel the Seven Decisions. Overall this is good book which Andrews’ fans will be very satisfied with. The only complaint I have is at the beginning of the book Andrews introduces us to characters who have been impacted by Ponder’s life. It would have more satisfying conclusion if those characters could have been revisited so we could observe how they were impacted by the summit. Review Copy Provided by Thomas Nelson