Own Wolf
A great insight of Wolf's background. Meeting his family, the story of how he got to the army, his changings and his pack
It was a great and fast reading that left the taste to read Scarlet again.
Read it online here
23 Ever wanted to read about how The Big Bad Wolf went from his meager beginnings as a child to a teenage soldier in the Lunar Queen's genetically engineered army?
Of course you do. Read this story for free, here.
My reviews for the other books in this series:
Glitches 🌕🌕🌕🌕
Cinder 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Scarlet 🌕🌕🌕🌗
Cress 🌕🌕🌕🌕
Fairest 🌕🌕🌗 23 The Queen's Army is one of two good e-novellas out there, the other being Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi. While I am always exceedingly curious to pick up novellas, I tend to find that they are massive disappointments, focusing on unrelated aspects of the plot or simply written poorly. Whatever the case may be, I have more or less sworn off of YA Novellas. In Marissa Meyer's case, though, I'll be making an exception. The Queen's Army was short, but sufficient enough to give the reader new - and deeper - insight into the world Meyer has created and by the end of it, you'll be itching for more of her writing for sure.
Z is a twelve-year-old Lunar when he is recruited by the Queen to serve in her army. After being forced away from his family, he undergoes surgery, emerging as a human boy with wolf instincts - sharp smell, heightened hearing, better vision, and, of course, canines. Now, in the army, Z has only one goal in mind - to be strong enough, fast enough, and good enough that his Queen doesn't see fit to turn him into the pro-type for future soldiers - one that is more beast than man.
With The Queen's Army, Marissa Meyer cleverly shows us a chink in the seemingly perfect plans of Queen Levana. As a villain, she is formidable, intelligent, and cunning, but she also cannot always control everyone and everything. Although the wolf-human soldiers she creates are bound to the will of their leaders, the struggle Meyer has shown is one that is shockingly easy to feel for. Z lives on in the hope that he will remain the half-mutated boy he currently is, fearful of his beast tendencies and despising the thought that he may have fur in the future if he doesn't prove himself good enough. It is this drive that makes Z such an endearing character. Unlike the others, Z isn't utterly fixated upon serving his Queen, but rather keeping his humanity. When you're turned into a beast, how far can you go to preserve the moral standards that you once retained as a human?
Although I read The Queen's Army after Scarlet, I do not entirely think it makes much of a difference when you read this short story. While it does, quite obviously, give away a plot twist in Meyer's sophomore novel, many of my friends have enjoyed Scarlet just as much - if not more - than I have despite it. In fact, this short e-novella gives the reader a deeper insight into one of Meyer's new characters. Without this background knowledge, though, the reader is transported directly into Scarlet's head and she discovers her new companion, along with any betrayals that may come her way. While I thoroughly enjoyed the plot twists that I was able to experience as a result of not having read this novel before Scarlet, I do think it'll make for a more enriched, although predictable, reading experience.
Either way, the point remains that this e-novella is a must-read for fans of Marissa Meyer and the Lunar Chronicles. It takes up only fifteen minutes of your time, but manages to make you think, question, and fall in love with an original character. If that isn't worth reading for, then I don't know what is.
You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings. 23 This? This was beautiful T_T
I love Wolf so so much. This novella was just a fantastic summary of Wolf's—Z's—past, and I loved every second.
I rarely enjoy a novella like I did with this one. 23 This short story didn't really do much for me. Most of the content in this story was stuff that you already sort of knew about if you've read Scarlet. The only thing that this short story added was why Ran doesn't like Ze'ev. Other than that, this short story was boring and it didn't capture my attention at all. 23
Thaumaturges...
Q:
They came at the end of the long night, when the manufacturing dome had not seen sunlight for almost two weeks. (c)
Q:
He’d just stopped questioning every thought that flickered through his brain. He had just begun to hope that he would not be chosen. (c)
Q:
Z balled up his blanket between his fists and tried to pour all his fears into it, and then release them all at once. He had to do it three times to keep from hyperventilating. (c)
Q:
Since he was a little boy, he had been raised to expect a visit from the queen’s thaumaturges during his twelfth year, and knew if he was deemed worthy, he would be conscripted into the new army she was building. It was a great honor to serve his crown. It would bring pride to his family and his sector. (c)
Q:
As it is expected that henceforth you will have no more contact with your biological family, you may now say your good-byes. (c)
Q:
When his peers practiced mind control on one another or an instructor prodded him with thoughts of obedience, it felt like a new idea being etched into his brain. It was recognizable and, often, he found that with enough focus he could defy it. (c)
Q:
He would wake up improved. ...
He dreamt of needles burrowing into his skin. He dreamt of pliers gripping his teeth. He dreamt of hot ashes and smoke in his eyes. He dreamt of a white tundra, a cold he had never known, and a hunger barely satiated by dripping meat in his jaws.
Mostly, he dreamt of howls in the distance. Forlorn cries that went on and on and on. (c)
Q:
Twenty-six days, gone, while his DNA melded with that of a white wolf, while nameless doctors and scientists turned him into a beast to serve his queen. In that time, the sun had come and gone, plunging the great city of Artemisia into another long night. (c)
Q:
We all know you’re Alpha—you don’t have to bully every twelve-year-old kid who comes in here to prove it. (c) 23 ”But no. They were wild animals. Predators who ran on instinct and bloodthirst. Who would expect a fair fight from such monsters? All she wanted was a show”.
Creo que The Queen’s Army es uno de mis relatos menos favoritos porque se centra en uno de los personajes que no me caen tan bien de la saga: Wolf. Ya sé que es importante y que tiene su papel en la historia, pero siempre sentí que al lado de los demás palidecía bastante.
En esta ocasión nos enteramos de cómo Wolf, o Ze’ev, entró a hacer parte del grupo de soldados élite y modificados genéticamente de la Reina Levana. Son años de entrenamientos descarnados, de cirugías y de dinámicas de pack de lobos, pero Ze’ev, de una u otra manera, logra destacarse y siempre luchar por la libertad de mantener su humanidad. ¿O debería decir lunaridad? En fin, que siempre lucha por evitar los cambios genéticos que lo dejarían siendo más animal que persona.
El final del relato es súper dramático y me gusta que termine en un punto alto para Z, pero realmente podría haber vivido sin leer esta información adicional sobre su vida.
23 “He had known this was inevitable.”
Actually I really liked this one. Loved it. I wanted to know more about Wolf since I first knew him. His character stirred something inside me whenever I read other romance novels. I feel as if his potentials alone could beat Kaito and lead the main story until the last book, but alas his character hasn't appeared enough even though he's my favorite.
In this book, the story starts off with the boy named Z, I was curious then who this guy is and where he takes part in this novella. Yet I hadn't been waiting for too long, Meyer delievered some revelation to shock me and wow ! this is the best short story of the whole series, I have to say.
The order of the packs was interesting. Z fights his way to the top and I admired him for that. There's many dimensions in this character I couldn't look over. Something in this book also broke my heart, and I was fixed after that.
23 ”This was a different level of manipulation, one that he couldn’t resist so easily. He knew it then. He would be forced to go with them, and he would become a puppet of Her Majesty, with no more will-power than a trained dog.”
For a short story this was actually pretty good and very informative. I liked that we got Wolf’s background story and finally found out more about his life before “Scarlet” and how he ended up in the Queen’s army. The idea of being manipulated against your own will and not to be able to fight against it still gives me the creeps though and I think it’s one of those things that really make Levana one hell of a villain. I mean a lot of things happen against people’s wills but that sheer power to take it away from them and not even to give them the choice to fight it or to be angry at you. I guess that’s what makes this so much worse and scary. >_<
”Z never wanted to be back on this exam table. He never wanted another needle beneath his skin. He never wanted to wake up with fur on his face and eyes that had no humanity behind them.
The queen was making a different kind of soldier, and he had already decided that he would be one of them.”
Also the fact that they just take young boys from their homes and manipulate their Lunar gifts in order to make them obedient soldiers... If I hated Levana before I flat out loathe her now. It’s not right and it’s no wonder so many Lunar’s are trying to flee to earth and to get away from their queen. For all of you who are familiar with Marvel’s Jessica Jones: Levana’s powers kind of remind me of Kilgrave’s. And we all know how horrible that man was. =(
”He could beat them.
He could beat all of them.
Wolf is such an intriguing character and I’m glad he has no taste for killing. He only did it in order to survive and deep down within him he already defied Levana while he was in training. So I have high hopes that he’ll help our cast in future. XD
All told this was a great addition to the series and it explained quite a lot of questions that surfaced while I read “Scarlet”. If you’re a fan of “The Lunar Chronicles” I can totally recommend this as a bookish snack in between. ;-)
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Ohhhh!
This was really interesting and exactly the kind of background story I needed!
For such a short story this was pretty great! =)
Short RTC soon! ;-)
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Someone please tell me that “the boy” who’s mentioned in this synopsis is Wolf.
Because I definitely need to know more about his past and how he came to earth. Wolf and his pack are so mysterious. I need more infos!!!
Also if this is his story does this mean Queen Levana knows him personally?
I’m actually kind of excited to read this! XD
Did any of you already read “The Queen’s Army” and if yes, did you enjoy it? =)) 23 In CINDER, we learned that Levana, the Lunar Queen, was creating an army. In THE QUEEN'S ARMY, we learn that her army is not an ordinary one. Still developing, twelve-year-old boys who show the proper aptitude are taken to training facilities where they are GENETICALLY RE-ENGINEERED into essentially werewolves.
W-E-R-E-W-O-L-V-E-S.
Then they go through years of basic training hell, where they live in a pack to better serve their new wolfish instincts.
I almost always read the novellas that accompany my favorite series, but mostly it's b/c I'm afraid of missing something important. I've learned not to expect too much--how deep can you really get in 20-30 pages?
BUT not only is THE QUEEN'S ARMY way more engrossing than any 25 page novella has a right to be, the story it tells is important to your overall understanding of the characters/situations in SCARLET.
And it's free. For whatever reason, the Tor.com links no longer work, but you can still get the novella from the author's website:
http://www.marissameyer.com/books/sho...
My other reviews for this series:
Glitches (Lunar Chronicles 0.5)
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)
Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5)
Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4) 23
Note: this short story is also available in Stars Above.
It is time. The boy must leave his family to serve in the Queen's army. To be chosen is an honor. To decline is impossible. The boy is modified. He is trained for several years, and learns to fight to the death. He proves to the Queen—and to himself—that he is capable of evil. He is just the kind of soldier the Queen wants: the alpha of his pack. The Queens Army (The Lunar Chronicles, #1.5)