I was thinking of Star Control, an old game series which was the inspiration for Mass Effect apparently. There's a few other stories like that I'm sure.
SPOILERS AHEAD
In SC, there's a race of beings that wakes up once in a while whenever technology levels in the galaxy reach saturation, and basically eats up all sentient species. One highly-advanced species manages to escape the last cycle by devolving themselves into dumber creatures like cattle. Of course they get stuck in that state and it's up to the next generation of spacefaring civilizations (including us) to collect their relics and revive them and learn how to survive the next cycle.
Not sure which book the parent was referring to, but that's the premise of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series: too many humans and too many computers doing too much complex mathematics attract tentacled horrors from beyond space-time.
Edit: I also like how in it, mathematics is the language of sorcery, and computing devices of any form - the implements.
SPOILERS AHEAD
In SC, there's a race of beings that wakes up once in a while whenever technology levels in the galaxy reach saturation, and basically eats up all sentient species. One highly-advanced species manages to escape the last cycle by devolving themselves into dumber creatures like cattle. Of course they get stuck in that state and it's up to the next generation of spacefaring civilizations (including us) to collect their relics and revive them and learn how to survive the next cycle.