Roger Zelazny is a genial writer who sometimes manages to give old themes new twists to accomplish something bordering on the extraordinary. He does this in four instances in this collection of fifteen stories -- ""Devil Car"" in which the autos are self-mobile; ""The Mortal Mountain,"" a long climb to the highest mountain in the near universe and well worth the struggle; ""A Museum Piece"" in which failed artists and cynical critics become living sculptures; and tire best, ""The Great Slow Kings,"" a truly funny piece that deals with dragons trying to discuss their contemporary problems over a span of centuries while the world moves on. Not all stars but O.K.