My Initial Reaction...
The second I heard about The Queen's Army in Cinder, I was thinking werewolves - and I was so excited to open this up and discover that I was right! This was a fun, quick novella that held me over until I could get Scarlet from the library.
The Good...
Marissa Meyer did a really great job developing characters with such a short book. I felt like I really got to know and understand Z - who is the main character in "The Queen's Army." He's been pulled away from his family against his will because he has exceptional lunar gifts... basically he's been drafted into the army and this isn't any ordinary army. The Lunar Queen has been running experiments on her own people, turning them into werewolves to be a particularly vicious army. Anyone who likes weres I think will enjoy this twist on weres - Marissa Meyer really emphasizes the ways that they are like the real wolves, as well as what makes the different in fun ways.
I also really liked that we got a glimpse of how the Lunar Queen's subjects are living. Through this short we get a glimpse of the ways she and her thelmaturges are using their lunar abilities to manipulate the people and force them into obedience. We already suspected it and now we know - she truly is EVIL.
The Bad...
I wouldn't say there's anything particularly BAD about "The Queen's Army." But since we're getting our first real glimpse of the Lunars, I would have liked to get more of a view of their world. Marissa Meyer didn't really stop to SHOW it to us. I wanted details about what living on the moon looked like - how are their homes and clothes and everything different? But since we leave the public world almost immediately we don't really get to see that. I was bummed, but in the end, still loved this short.
Concluding Sentiments...
Sometimes reading these little shorts & novellas doesn't seem to matter for the story - and while you could totally read Scarlet without reading "The Queen's Army" and fully understand it, I can't think why you'd want to miss out on this background story for some key characters moving forward. The novella is free, short and a fun read- so I wouldn't skip it!