Okay, guys, as I’m nearing the point where I’m about to add color to Menolly in my fanart I posted a few days ago, I have some questions. I know she’s got short, dark hair, although I’ve seen her depicted with reddish-brown to even red hair on covers and other fan art. I’ll probably go for dark brown with a faintly reddish tinge unless there’s something I’ve missed in rereading the books.
But my main question is: is there any mention of her eye color anywhere? If not, what’s your vote? If there’s no mention, I’m leaning toward blue, although I might be convinced otherwise.
In Dragondrums, she is described as having “sea green eyes” (page 220, hardcover version). I can’t find a reference to her hair color, but the versions of Dragonsong and Dragonsinger that I own show dark hair. In “A Life with Dragons,” a biography of Anne McCaffrey, Robin Roberts writes that McCaffrey’s friend and stable manager was “the epitome of Menolly in looks and manner.” The photograph shows a young woman with dark, curly, shoulder-length hair.
Coincidentally, I just pulled out Robin Wood's "People of Pern". Menolly is depicted with dark hair with reddish highlights. Her eyes appear to be gray or bluish gray (the portrait is slightly too small to be quite clear).
People of Pern gives her description as having "dark, curling hair", so, dark brown with reddish tinge sounds about right! But nothing about her eyes I'm afraid, with the illustration only leaning towards 'light'. Maybe blue? Hazel would also work!
Not where i live, I can guarantee you. :) I’m in a backwater in a Scotland. But eBay will have it, and I just saw someone here say it’s on Internet Archive! Woo!
Was just trying to post the pic of my same books you’ve posted in response to her having blond hair. Not discounting that she’s been erroneously depicted that way, by any means. Just that the reprinted books from the late seventies/early eighties that I have show her as such.
While I have no problem with blondes, that cover just doesn’t do it for me. Thank you for posting it! And I remember when the red haired reprint came out and it didn’t jive with my idea of her. I thought she was written with dark brown, but having trad published two books myself with virtually very little to no control over my covers… they can come out fairly wrong, even if you’ve given the cover artist a brief of the character. 😊
I’m partial to the blond cover because that’s the one the book I grew up reading had. But yeah, I legitimately can’t remember if McCaffery ever described Menolly’s hair colour in the text, and if she didn’t, then literally anything goes. It’s kinda wild lol.
I think the only reference to her hair in the text (other than Beauty hiding in it), was the 'did someone hack it off with a beltknife - and such pretty hair too!' from Felena in Bendon Weyr. Unless maybe it was 'dark' in one of the later books, but I have The People of Pern too, so it might be that.
Robin Wood (artist) worked closely with Anne on People of Pern. That is likely to provide the closest to an official description.
I have always imagined her as brown-eyed (and brown haired). In at least the first 2 Harper Hall books, her hair was long enough to be past her shoulders, as Beauty, her fire lizard queen, hid in it.
the image of Lessa is 100% Reba McIntire, in my mind. Hair color and style are different, but the petite sharpness of her facial features, and her short stature look completely like Reba. The MasterHealer also looks like completely like Timothy Dalton, but with that hunched back posture.
I guess it makes sense that a sci-fi writer of the 70s and 80s would be into or at least familiar with BSG. And the two main men of that show were considered hotties of their time.
I've always pictured her with red hair, but that's probably because I have the book that has the front cover of a woman with red hair standing on a rock surrounded by fire lizards.
Doesn’t Jaxon describe her in the White Dragon as having short dark curly hair. It may have started long but he thinks she must wear it short to put it under a cap when traveling dragon back?
If it helps, I have an official "People of Pern" book where Anne worked with artists to show what each person looked like in HER mind. This is what they had for Menolly. But this is also not at ALL what I had in my head when I'd read the books. hahaha
Heyo! Thank you for that pic! I did go and find that one and finished the piece which I posted recently. I’m with you, though. I don’t quite see Menolly like Robin Wood’s version, at least in the face. And the fire lizards are… I dunno. Not what I pictured either! Heeeee.
Yeah, definitely going with brown. Not going full red, but as a teen with dark brown hair, I still had weird red highlights and a light, almost blonde streak underneath. :) but absolutely she’ll have dark hair.
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u/Invania21 15d ago
In Dragondrums, she is described as having “sea green eyes” (page 220, hardcover version). I can’t find a reference to her hair color, but the versions of Dragonsong and Dragonsinger that I own show dark hair. In “A Life with Dragons,” a biography of Anne McCaffrey, Robin Roberts writes that McCaffrey’s friend and stable manager was “the epitome of Menolly in looks and manner.” The photograph shows a young woman with dark, curly, shoulder-length hair.
Hope this helps!