There is no resolution at the end of this volume. The flaw is exacerbated by the omission of any mention on the cover that this is NOT a self-contained story. Well, it's not even a good addition to Asimov's positronic robots. All in all, I would have to rate this book a strike-out. It could be that the second and third novels will make it all worthwhile, but I'm not inspired to spend my money to find out.
Exile is considered worse than death.
In the latter, one man, Kedar Nan, has stumbled across early records from the era of colonization, and he is running a semi-underground school to discuss and disseminate this information. The main character, Meer Fas, runs across him by chance, and gets absorbed into this circle, although he is always somewhat of an outsider. The school is galvanized by the arrival of a starship, its attempts to communicate with the city, and its eventual silencing. Meer himself, drafted into 'jury duty', passes a sentence of exile on Kedar, rather than have Kedar's own son forced to kill his father. In the 'present', Meer received a message from a colony of exiles living outside the city, that Kedar Nan is dead and has requested Meer return his body to the city for burial.