I've watched the trailer and I'm not convinced (even though I'll almost cetainly watch it).
Not sure the broadening of the show is necessary or can work.
Not sure focusing on carry over characters can work with the gravity of the story, though I thought the emperor clones thing was an excellent way to work in a perennial character that fits within the story and universe.
I'm not even sure that slowing it down and doing it all over 8 seasons makes sense.
Oh no ... I really wouldn't judge the books by the show ... very different feels, and the books are an old classic too. There are three books, and they're pretty episodic in their structure, so you could give the first one a shot, read the first few chapters and decide from there. Even just reading the first book will let you know what they're like. And from memory, they're not long at all.
Everyone should read the books. As annother said the show is only inspired by the books.
The very basic premise of the books is, the individual is unimportant in face of large systemic forces. The show clearly has the opposite viewpoint. Because those kinds of stories are easier to write, therefore more common, and what people are used to. So it's also easier to sell.
Just read the books. The show does an excellent job of completely butchering all the parts that made the books good. The show is in fact so bad that show spoilers don't even count as book spoilers.
People have been talking about making the books into films or a TV show for ages, and somewhat like Dune, it was always thought difficult to do. It seems that that perception has given the writers permission to totally do their own thing ... and I don't think it's working at all.
The emperor clone thing was clever, and they should have just gone for things like that all the way through, clever cheap ideas and structures that let them tell the Foundation story without going too big on the budget and making it easier to understand and follow in a TV format.