You've heard all the critisism...
...way too short, you sold out, series is declining, very rushed, giant commercial, etc. You've heard all that already.
However, I think I should say that after starting Ep. 9, I closed out before it got too much into the story, and re-watched Ep 8, thinking (and HOPEING) I missed something. In short, I was dissappointed before I really started watching Ep. 9.
I love this series, really I do. Enough to want to buy the book. If I had found out about it on my own, and the series continued on WITHOUT all the crazy changes, I'd have begged my pops for it.
But, come on, Zoe has an exploding Teddy Bear and an eyepatch (for an injury, I assume) that was never explained in the flash series (which, by the way, is where your whole fanbase (or former fan-base, in some cases) COMES FROM).
I really wouldn't mind the shorter episodes if there was more story and less action. Not everyone here is blood-thirsty for some killing. Example: Nephtis' 5 second flashback could have been expanded, at least a little bit. And another: another flashback showing Zoe remembering about the bear's super action exploding capabilities.
Also, Zoe has NO CLUE who her parents were, etc. Nothing up to this point, but suddenly "OH WAIT! My Teddy Bear explodes..." It's just kinda funny (but not in a good way).
Then, you have this giant advertisement at the end for The Book. I don't think I need to explain how wrong that felt. But I'll say this: you could have gone about it a lot better. Example: coulda kept going with the storyline the way it was, before The Book. No exploding Teddy, no eyepatch. End the series, THEN tell people about the book. Say that the book has a thicker plotline, etc. It's different, not the exact same thing as the flash series. But INSTEAD, you changed a whole bunch of stuff, and told us to buy the book to find out why.
Conclusion, I MIGHT still buy the book. But it's far from first on the list. God of War 2, Eragon DVD, new Wii game to buy. Not to mention any cool stuff coming out between now and the time my little wish-list is complete.