Yes Caleb, I absolutely agree about there not being just one version of history. I also agree that the writing style was plain and direct, but I noted down a couple of quotes that I really liked - both from people who admired Akhenaten.
Nakht, the minister of Akhenaten's chamber, said (Chapter 13 page 14):
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This is a story of innocence, of deception, and infinite grief.
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And Bento, Akhenaten's physician, said with great psychological insight (Chapter 14 page 16):
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He confronted people with their mediocrity and provoked their deepest fears. So they pounced on him with animal anger and desperation.
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I kept a note of who the various people were, and there were six who were "against" and eight who were "for" Akhenaten. He was already someone whom I found extremely interesting because of being so radically different from most of the other Pharaohs, so I didn't need to be convinced by numbers. And of course that interest meant my sympathies lay with Akhenaten and his supporters.
However, if we pretend that these interviews really did take place, my feeling is that the truer portrait of Akhenaten came from his supporters. After all, they had nothing to gain by continuing their loyalty to him and his beliefs after his fall. (On the other hand of course, it can be argued that this only reflects the sympathies of Mahfouz!)
At least the priests didn't imprison or kill his supporters after their return to power, which is more civilised that plenty of other upheavals in history. We know this is true for Ay, who became Pharaoh (see the list I put up earlier) despite being the father of Nefertiti and father-in-law as well as tutor and counsellor of Akhenaten. So if he survived, it seems reasonable to believe that other supporters also survived.