Talon of the court of owls has always used assassin style combat and weapons since his introduction in the batuniverse . Around 201011 <| sep |> I enjoyed the list and the article , but how can you discuss the prototypical nature of Valentine Michael Smith from Stranger in a Strange Land without mentioning that it ' s basically a MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT ! retelling of the story of Jesus Christ ? A guy comes down from Heaven . well . space , who is half man and half supernatural , has magical powers , is persecuted but forms a dedicated following and founds a church , then he ' s stoned to death and his disciples eat soup made from his body . I know Heinlein and Strange Land in particular is a controversial topic on rbooks , but it really is great , and I highly recommend it to any scifi fan who hasn ' t read it .