SOLVED. Adult Sci-fi: An older novel about two young men and their merchant father. One of the brothers can't walk and rides in a hovering wheelchair. They take icy cold showers and go on a journey with pack animals. [s]

[Maria]

I read this book at least 10 or 15 years ago, but I think the book was published long before that. It was set on a different planet. The main characters were two brothers, possibly in their late teens. I think they were receiving some sort of education and lived with their parents just outside town. One brother could not walk and rode in a sort of hovering wheelchair. The father had the boys shower outside in cold water to toughen them up. The father was some sort of merchant or trapper who made trade journeys and he eventually agrees to take his sons with him on a trip. I think they had some sort of futuristic pack animals and pass by a large body of water.

[Nachelle]

Could be "The Memory of Earth" by Orson Scott Card

[Bargle]

Nachelle wrote: "Could be "The Memory of Earth" by Orson Scott Card"

Seconded.

[Maria]

Thanks guys! That cover looks familiar. I'll give it a read and see if it's the right one!

[Kris]

Here's the Google Books preview of The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card - Nachelle & Bargle's suggestion:

https://books.google.com/books?id=Gz5... There are different cover images.

[Maria]

It was Memory of Earth. Solved!