In Red Storm Rising Clancy uses the episodic style of The Hunt for Red October (1984) and his later books. The rapidly shifting scenes could be confusing, but Clancy provides each locale with a familiar character to serve as an anchor. Specific characters are associated with each setting and subplot. For instance, Lt. Edwards represents events in Iceland, Sergetov events in Moscow, Gen. Alekseyev the Soviet side of the land battle in Europe, and Sgt. Makall the NATO ground forces at the front in Germany.