Oh, I almost forgot...The Baroque Cycle is also a very good set of prequels, although Cryptonomicon is stronger than them on a few points. Unfortunately, the series is kind of long, a little slow in parts, and sometimes overly preachy.
The gospels seem to have done a pretty good job of filling in the backstory for the epistles, and with better pacing. Luke/Acts is especially good at this, with all the tie-ins and a nice sense of tension between volumes 1 and 2. They *were* taking the franchise into the mass market, which meant more special effects and a less intellectual tone, and they were a little sloppy with continuity in a few places ('If you're not against us you're for us', and then later 'whoever isn't with us is against us'? Oops.) but you can't argue with that kind of a sales record. #1 for how many weeks straight? I lost count.
And the people of the galaxy got by without any jedi for a couple decades, as well. Geeks aren't necessary for life, only for civilization and progress. Rousseau's first & second discourses cover this pretty well.
You might also consider that the garbage collectors and farmers have a much easier time of things due to the efforts of geeks like Diesel and Otto and Carnot. Without them, backhoe drivers would be gracefully operating picks and shovels...no less noble, no less useful, but much less powerful.
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Oh, I almost forgot...The Baroque Cycle is also a very good set of prequels, although Cryptonomicon is stronger than them on a few points. Unfortunately, the series is kind of long, a little slow in parts, and sometimes overly preachy.
The gospels seem to have done a pretty good job of filling in the backstory for the epistles, and with better pacing. Luke/Acts is especially good at this, with all the tie-ins and a nice sense of tension between volumes 1 and 2. They *were* taking the franchise into the mass market, which meant more special effects and a less intellectual tone, and they were a little sloppy with continuity in a few places ('If you're not against us you're for us', and then later 'whoever isn't with us is against us'? Oops.) but you can't argue with that kind of a sales record. #1 for how many weeks straight? I lost count.
And the people of the galaxy got by without any jedi for a couple decades, as well. Geeks aren't necessary for life, only for civilization and progress. Rousseau's first & second discourses cover this pretty well.
You might also consider that the garbage collectors and farmers have a much easier time of things due to the efforts of geeks like Diesel and Otto and Carnot. Without them, backhoe drivers would be gracefully operating picks and shovels...no less noble, no less useful, but much less powerful.