[Versipelle]

> Wouldn’t it be more desirable to hear an actual human on an audiobook? Ideally the author?

Of course, but it's not always available.

For example, I would love an audiobook for Stanisław Lem's "The Invincible," as I just finished its video game adaptation, yet it simply doesn't exist in my native language.

It's quite seldom that the author narrates the audiobooks I listen to, and sometimes the narrator does a horrible job, butchering the characters with exaggerated tones.