Review: The Final Summit: Andy Andrews

I wasn’t really sure what kind of book I was getting with Andy Andrews’ ‘The Final Summit’, and now that I’ve read it, I’m still not sure. It’s one of those books that ends up being a cross between two genres, and it does neither of them justice. As a novel, it just didn’t have the kind of plot that could capture and hold my interest; and as a self-help or motivational book, there’s too much fiction for it to be plausible enough to really focus on the motivational aspect.


As I went back looking for the ‘seven decisions’ that David Ponder apparently came across in his first traveling adventure (‘The Traveler’s Gift’ a book I haven’t read) I could see where each of them could be have a chapter of its own and possibly benefit some people. But the seven decisions don’t seem to be the focal point of this story, and at the end of the book, I was still wondering why they were mentioned at the beginning, except as a spoiler as to which fellow travelers David Ponder would be dealing with as he sets out to ‘find the one principle that will save humanity.’ The seven decisions are positive statements that might be heard at almost any motivational conferences.

On the positive side, Andrews has done some research and provides some interesting trivia about the historical personages that he has inducted into his “travelers hall of fame’ (for lack of a better way to identify the famous people that he includes as part of David Ponder’s traveling experience. And people from so many different time periods interacting face to face is an interesting concept. He does a good job of pointing out the sad state of the human condition, but the solution that we’re left with is fairly anticlimactic.

The seven decisions are mostly bland statements of affirmation that could have been expanded upon, and the book might have ended up a little meatier. History’s best minds struggle to come up with the answer that will save humanity, and I was left wondering how we’ve made it this far if that’s the best they could come up with.

This would be a good book to read when you really don’t want to be put in the position of having to think.
2 stars

TO comply with FTC guidelines, I am required to disclose the fact that I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it.